Secretary General: Alliance to further boost cooperation with EU

NATO foreign ministers are to hold two days of talks beginning Tuesday (5 December 2017) to discuss the Alliance’s continuing adaptation in the face of diverse and evolving security challenges.

Speaking at a press conference at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said ministers would explore means of expanding cooperation between NATO and the European Union. That cooperation, which is already at “an unprecedented level”, will help the two organisations respond to challenges such as cyber attacks, terrorism and the need to improve military mobility.

The Secretary General also said that ministers would discuss global threats like that posed by North Korea’s weapons programmes. North Korea is “undermining the global non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament regimes,” he said, and “the whole world needs to apply maximum pressure”.

Also on ministers’ agenda will be NATO’s role in projecting stability and fighting terrorism. Acknowledging what the Alliance has already done – including boosting its training mission in Afghanistan, and working with partners like Jordan and Tunisia to strengthen their defences – Mr. Stoltenberg said ministers would consider how NATO’s role in the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS “should evolve, as the Global Coalition moves from combat operations to stabilisation efforts.”

In addition, the Alliance will hold a meeting of the NATO-Georgia Commission, giving ministers the opportunity to exchange views with “one of the Alliance’s closest partners”, the Secretary General said – including on “areas where we could cooperate even more closely, such as Black Sea security”.

The Ministerial meeting will conclude with a discussion on NATO’s Open Door policy and “how best to support those countries which aspire to join our community of shared security and shared values.”

Pre-ministerial press conference by the NATO Secretary General04 Dec. 2017NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu with the NATO Permanent Representative for the United States, Kay Bailey Hutchison after the press conference ahead of the meetings of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs on 5 and 6 December in Brussels